NIMC Services Still Down Despite Completion of System Upgrade

Despite the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) ‘s announcement that it has completed scheduled technical maintenance, Nigerians continue to face widespread service disruptions, sparking frustration and public outcry.

The NIMC, which oversees Nigeria’s national identity infrastructure, had previously informed the public of a system upgrade scheduled from July 1 to July 2. The commission stated that the exercise was part of a broader strategy aimed at enhancing service delivery and improving the customer experience.

However, contrary to its assurances, many Nigerians report that key services remain either unavailable or unreliable. Issues with SIM registration, NIN self-service modifications, and verification processes continue to plague sectors including banking, education, and migration.

While a few users confirmed limited access to NIMC’s self-service portal, many others have turned to social media to voice their dissatisfaction. One user on X criticised the agency’s prolonged network downtime, stating:

Picture an entire organisation, responsible for storing nearly all citizens’ data, experiencing a network shutdown for over a month with no one held accountable. We urgently need proactive individuals in such organisations. Since reliability seems lacking, perphaps the FG shouldn’t have tied everything to NIN”

Another user lamented the persistent failure of NIMC’s digital tools, commenting:

Your [NIMC] portal and app are not working. You guys are part of a major national security architecture. Level up and start behaving like you are. All this na nonsense.”

Despite NIMC’s claims that full services have been restored, many users continue to share screenshots showing unresolved issues, including failed requests and inaccessible features.

In a follow-up by West Africa Weekly, an MTN field agent confirmed that although NIMC has reactivated its network for NIN-related services, problems persist with mobile SIM registration, especially for new users and those seeking to retrieve lost numbers.

They [NIMC] have restored the network for NIN, but there is still a network issue with MTN SIM registration,” the agent said.

Other reports, such as one from the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), support these findings, noting widespread user complaints about the NIN mobile application’s instability and failure to process requests.

As digital identity becomes increasingly central to accessing both public and private services in Nigeria, the continued failures of the NIMC system raise serious questions about the agency’s readiness to meet its growing responsibilities. For many Nigerians, the so-called “restoration” is yet to deliver any meaningful improvement.

About The Author

Mayowa Durosinmi

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M. Durosinmi is a West Africa Weekly investigative reporter covering Politics, Human Rights, Health, and Security in West Africa and the Sahel Region

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